With Loki's legs locked by telekinesis, Ethan swung him around like a human hammer.
Loki's body spun through the air in a brutal arc before slamming hard into the ground. The impact echoed across the camp like a heavy sledgehammer striking steel. Ethan didn't stop there. Still holding Loki's legs with telekinesis, he swung him again, smashing him into the ground over and over like a whirlwind.
Watching from the side, Natasha Romanoff stood silently, her expression unreadable. Captain America, however, looked at Loki with a trace of sympathy in his eyes.
Then he glanced toward Ethan.
Seeing the excited expression on Ethan's face made Steve Rogers involuntarily shiver.
Just one look was enough.
Almost instinctively, the three of them reached the exact same conclusion at the same time.
Never provoke this guy.
Nick Fury stood nearby with his arms folded, pretending to calmly observe the situation. However, the subtle tension in his expression revealed that even he felt a little uncomfortable watching what was happening.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Phil Coulson had just rushed over after hearing the commotion.
Clint watched Loki being used as a blunt weapon and immediately muttered, "After this mission, don't assign me to work with that guy again."
"I don't think I get to decide that," Coulson replied with a helpless shrug.
To Loki's credit, his physical durability was extraordinary.
Even under Ethan's telekinetic force—capable of exerting nearly three thousand tons of pressure—Loki's body didn't break. If it had been a normal person, or even reinforced steel, the repeated impacts would have twisted and shattered it beyond recognition long ago.
Yet Loki endured it.
He looked battered and humiliated, but he still hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
After spinning him around for a while, Ethan finally grew bored.
With a casual flick of his hand, he tossed Loki aside like discarded luggage.
"Go back to Asgard," Ethan said calmly.
Loki slowly stood up from the ground, his face completely expressionless. He said nothing, but his eyes burned with restrained fury.
Without another word, his figure vanished from sight.
Watching Loki disappear, Nick Fury frowned slightly.
"Why didn't you kill him?" Fury asked.
Ethan glanced briefly toward Mjolnir in the distance.
Everything that had just happened was almost certainly visible to Odin. The All-Father had eyes across the realms, and this situation was no exception.
Still, Ethan wasn't worried.
If Odin were the type of person to take offense over something like that, he wouldn't have been worthy of the title King of the Gods in the first place.
Besides, sometimes showing strength was necessary to earn respect.
However, killing Loki would have been a completely different matter.
Loki was still a prince of Asgard. No matter how complicated Odin's feelings toward him might be, killing him would effectively be a declaration of war against the entire realm of Asgard.
That was not a situation Ethan wanted.
Looking at Fury, Ethan asked calmly, "Loki is a prince of Asgard. Are you sure Earth is ready for that kind of war?"
Nick Fury's expression stiffened slightly.
Of course he understood what Ethan meant.
He also understood that Earth was absolutely not prepared for that scenario. However, the thought made something stir quietly in the back of his mind. Several classified projects that had previously been shelved suddenly seemed worth reconsidering.
Perhaps it was time to restart them.
At that moment, Natasha Romanoff spoke up.
"From the look he gave you, I doubt he appreciates being spared," she said thoughtfully. "If anything, it might make things worse. Wouldn't it be safer to capture him before he gets away?"
"I agree with Natasha," Captain America added.
Although Steve Rogers often seemed old-fashioned, he wasn't naive.
Ethan waved dismissively.
"Relax. He's not the one in charge of Asgard right now," Ethan said. "And he won't be the one in charge in the future either. Besides, if things really got as bad as you're imagining—wouldn't your director have a backup plan?"
He pointed at Nick Fury.
"Just call that 'aunt' of yours back," Ethan joked. "Maybe Earth could launch a counterattack against Asgard."
Nick Fury remained silent.
This guy clearly knew far too many secrets.
Couldn't he just keep them to himself instead of casually revealing them in front of everyone? Still, Fury had to admit that calling Carol back might actually be a reasonable option.
After all, by now she was already well over fifty years old.
Captain America noticed that Fury didn't argue with Ethan and decided not to ask further questions.
Natasha Romanoff, however, was thinking much more deeply.
Aunt?
Someone Fury could call back?
Did that mean the person had left Earth?
And earlier she had heard Fury mention a special device stored in Ethan's home. Could that device be related to contacting this mysterious person?
Natasha silently filed the information away.
At that moment, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent approached Nick Fury.
"Director," the agent said, "the man who came to retrieve him has arrived. He's currently waiting in the interrogation room."
Fury glanced at him. "Do I need to explain how to handle this?"
"Understood, sir," the agent replied immediately.
He turned to leave, but Ethan suddenly stopped him.
"Wait a second," Ethan said. "Did an astrophysicist named Dr. Erik Selvig arrive with him?"
"Yes," the agent confirmed. "His name is Erik Selvig."
Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Let him wait a bit," Ethan said. "I'll talk to Thor first. After that, you can release him."
The agent didn't respond immediately. Instead, he looked at Nick Fury for confirmation.
"Do as he says," Fury ordered.
"Yes, sir."
After the agent left, Fury looked back at Ethan.
"What are you planning now?" he asked.
"Just doing my part," Ethan replied casually. "If you're worried, send more people to keep an eye on him."
Odin was still probably listening.
There were some things Ethan simply couldn't say directly.
"Well," Ethan continued, "I'm going to talk to Thor."
He waved dismissively and headed toward the interrogation room.
Nick Fury watched him leave.
He had no idea what Ethan intended to do, but he was certain of one thing. Ethan didn't mean harm to Earth, and for Fury that was enough.
Inside the interrogation room, Thor sat motionless with his head lowered. He looked like a statue carved from disappointment, completely unresponsive to the world around him.
Ethan stepped inside.
"So," Ethan said casually, "Loki just came to see you, didn't he? Let me guess—he told you that your father is dead."
Thor slowly raised his head but said nothing.
"If I told you your father isn't dead," Ethan continued calmly, "what would you say?"
Thor's head snapped up instantly.
"What did you say?" he demanded, his eyes filled with sudden hope. "Father isn't dead? But Loki told me he died… because of me."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"How much of what Loki says is actually true?" he asked.
Thor hesitated.
He thought about it carefully, but after a moment he shook his head stubbornly.
"Loki may trick me sometimes," Thor admitted, "but not about something like this. Besides, you're just someone from Midgard. How could you possibly know what's happening in Asgard?"
Ethan looked at Thor the same way someone might look at a particularly stubborn idiot.
Loki tells you something and you just believe it?
What kind of cosmic karma did Asgard accumulate to end up with a future king like this?
Even if Ragnarök never happened, Asgard might eventually collapse simply from Thor's decision-making.
Ethan sighed internally.
Well… if Thor refuses to believe the truth, there's only one option left.
Looks like I'll have to force you to think a little harder.
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now